Latest news with #Tires'
New York Post
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
ESPN isn't worried about any Shane Gillis backlash over ESPYs monologue
Shane Gillis' monologue at the ESPY Awards on Wednesday night has left plenty of people divided over the contents of the jokes, but the Disney-owned sports network isn't concerned about the reaction that Gillis' routine received, The Post has confirmed. During his roughly 10-minute opening, Gillis poked fun at just about everyone from popular sports figures to President Donald Trump in a biting opening sequence to kick off the annual sports award show. The Worldwide Leader always knew Gillis' comedic stylings weren't going to be for everyone, as TMZ first reported, but there were no worries about the 'Tires' star who has worked with the network on its 'College GameDay' show. 3 Host Shane Gillis speaks at the ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. AP ESPN declined comment when reached by The Post. Among the topics that Gillis touched upon were Trump, Caitlin Clark, Aaron Rodgers and Jeffrey Epstein. The well-known comedian received mixed reactions during his eyebrow-raising opening remarks. Gillis asserted that women's soccer legend Megan Rapinoe was not a 'good time' in one of his first quips of the night and later joked that he and Clark, the WNBA superstar, had a lot in common because they were both 'whites from the Midwest who have nailed a bunch of 3s.' 3 Host Shane Gillis, top right, speaks at the ESPY Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. AP 'When Caitlin Clark retires from the WNBA, she's going to work at a Waffle House so she can continue doing what she loves most, fist fighting black women,' he continued. In one of his most well-received jokes of the night, he aimed Bill Belichick and girlfriend Jordon Hudson after making a Shohei Ohtani joke related to his disgraced interpreter Ippei Mizuhara. 'A bookie is what Bill Belichick reads to his girlfriend before bedtime,' Gillis said on stage before launching into a list of crude titles for classic books. At least one former ESPNer didn't enjoy the show. 3 Nick Sirianni, Josh Sweat, Jalen Carter, and Jordan Mailata accept the Best Team Award from Druski and Shane Gillis onstage during the 2025 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre on July 16, 2025 in Hollywood, California. Getty Images 'In a year of crazy growth for women's sports choosing an ESPYs host who doesn't even try to make clever jokes about women athletes (he at least *attempted* for the men),' Sarah Spain wrote on X on Thursday, 'he goes with hacky 'no one knows the WNBA' bits, 'Pinoe is a bad time' & repeatedly insults Black women. COOL.'
New York Post
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Ex-ESPNer Sarah Spain slams Shane Gillis after polarizing ESPYs appearance
Count Sarah Spain among those who weren't impressed with Shane Gillis' performance as ESPYs host. In a post shared early Thursday on X, the former ESPN reporter called out the Worldwide Leader for bringing the comedian into the fold as emcee, who took shots at Megan Rapinoe, Caitlin Clark and the WNBA during his divisive outing. 'In a year of crazy growth for women's sports choosing an ESPYs host who doesn't even try to make clever jokes about women athletes (he at least *attempted* for the men) he goes with hacky 'no one knows the WNBA' bits, 'Pinoe is a bad time' & repeatedly insults Black women. COOL,' Spain wrote. 3 Sarah Spain wasn't a fan of Shane Gillis' performance as ESPYs host. Getty Images for iHeartRadio 3 The comedian took aim at Megan Rapinoe and the WNBA during the show. Getty Images Gillis took aim at Rapinoe, an outspoken social rights activist, by stating it was 'nice' that the soccer legend wasn't going to make the show. When the crowd did not respond, Gillis paused and chuckled, 'No? We're going to pretend that she's a good time? Alright.' Gillis also enlisted a friend's wife to fool the crowd inside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles as part of a WNBA joke. 'Four-time WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks is here, everybody, give it up for Brittany,' the 'Tires' actor began. 3 Shane Gillis called out Caitlin Clark and Aaron Rodgers, among others, in his divisive ESPYs monologue. Getty Images As the crowd applauded, Gillis replied, 'I'm just joking around. That's my friend's wife, I knew none of you knew WNBA players. That's crazy you clapped for that.' Hicks, a businesswoman and her husband, comedian Matt McCusker, were seen laughing when the camera panned to them. Elsewhere in the night, Gillis roasted Aaron Rodgers and President Trump in his monologue, not to mention Bill Belichick and his romance with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson.
New York Post
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Shane Gillis uses friend's wife to fool ESPYs crowd with WNBA joke
In one fell swoop, Shane Gillis managed to humiliate the entire crowd at the ESPYs Wednesday night. 'Four-time WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks is here, everybody, give it up for Brittany,' Gillis said innocuously partway through his monologue. Advertisement The crowd at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood politely applauded, before Gillis waited a beat, smirked, and said: 'I'm joking around, that's my friend's wife. I knew none of you knew WNBA players.' The crowd awkwardly murmured in response, although Hicks, a businesswoman, and her husband, comedian Matt McCusker, appeared to find it hilarious. As with almost every other joke made in his fiery, controversial set, the reactions on social media were a mixed bag. Advertisement 3 Matt McCusker (left) and Brittany Hicks (right) were loving Shane Gillis' ESPYs joke about Hicks Wednesday night @KFCBarstool/X 'Using your best friend's wife to set up a joke about a fake WNBA player to call out an entire audience for pandering is perhaps the best executed joke of all time. And it came at the ESPYS!!' wrote @KFCBarstool in an X post that got 48,000 likes. 'Gillis just served up one of the classiest middle fingers in award show history,' wrote another. 'Straight outta the Ricky Gervais playbook.' 3 Comedian Shane Gillis at the ESPYs at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood Wednesday night. Getty Images Advertisement 'Best joke of all time!!!!' said a third. Others were less amused. 'Punching down is never funny,' wrote one user on X. Advertisement 'That's not funny,' said another. 'Like, at all.' 3 Shane Gillis before the ESPYs on Wednesday night. River / MEGA The quip wasn't the only time Gillis, 37, poked fun at the WNBA — he also cracked multiple controversial jokes about Caitlin Clark. First, the star of the Netflix show 'Tires' compared himself to Clark because they're both 'whites from the Midwest who have nailed a bunch of 3s.' Then, he went on to say: 'When Caitlin Clark retires from the WNBA, she's going to work at a Waffle House so she can continue doing what she loves most, fist fighting Black women.' The WNBA was far from the only target of the monologue, though, with Gillis taking aim at anyone and everyone in the sports world and beyond — including Aaron Rodgers, President Donald Trump, Bill Belichick and Mets star Juan Soto.
New York Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Q&A: Comedian Shane Gillis on hosting the ESPYs after his best sports year ever
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — On Wednesday night, Shane Gillis will celebrate the greatest sports year of his life. He'll also celebrate the year in sports for everybody else while hosting the ESPYs at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET). From lifting the Lombardi Trophy at the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl afterparty to watching Notre Dame's run to the national championship game up close, Gillis lived an almost perfect sports fan dream last fall. In between, he filmed Season 2 of 'Tires' on Netflix, was cast in the Madden movie and hosted 'Saturday Night Live.' There's also his international standup comedy tour that will stop at Notre Dame Stadium on Sept. 6. Advertisement And you probably remember his Under Armour commercial praying for Notre Dame to win the national championship. 'I was surprised Notre Dame allowed that,' Gillis said. 'They're modernizing a little.' The Athletic caught up with Gillis on preparing to host the ESPYs and reliving moments of last football season. Note: Conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Hosting the ESPYs after that last football season, how much of the intro will just be Notre Dame and Philadelphia Eagles highlights? If I have any control over it, that'd be great. If I can pick the highlights, it will just be Eagles, Notre Dame, also some Phillies. That would be nice. Knowing the teams that you follow as a sports fan, was last year the greatest sports year of your life? It was definitely the best I've ever had, but it could have been the greatest of all time if there's only a few more minutes on that Ohio State game. I don't know if a few more minutes would have helped, but you know what I mean. Why did you want to take on the ESPYs, and considering you're an Eagles fan, would Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs be an easy mark in an opening monologue? (Laughs) The reason I wanted to take it on was Norm Macdonald. He's the best ever, and he did it, and his monologue was one of my favorites. You've talked about what it's like seeing Caitlin Clark at your shows or sitting courtside with Steph Curry and Draymond Green. At what point does it stop being a thing when you're seeing all these star athletes at your events? You're the sports fan, but sometimes they're there to see you. For some reason with athletes, it doesn't go away. I can meet a famous actor or a famous comedian, and I'm usually pretty relaxed about it. But then I'll meet Michael Phelps on a plane and I'm like, 'Oh my God.' The first time I met Aaron Judge, I couldn't talk. I don't know why. I get starstruck by that. I didn't think Caitlin Clark was going to be starstuck. I was, which was pretty funny. Steph Curry, that was awesome. Advertisement So to be in a theater with all of them at the same time… I'm gonna be too focused on my monologue to care at that point, but maybe after the show I'll be thinking about it, depending on how the show goes. If it's bad, I'm gonna get out of there. But that's another thing, once you start to get to know these guys, you start feeling like you're less of a fan as far as like, I'm not gonna ever sit around and be like, that guy sucks, I hate that guy. Before, I would say that because I didn't know anybody. Even before the Steph Curry thing, I was like, I don't like Steph Curry, he's a … Then you meet him and you're like holy s—, Steph Curry is incredible. So there's a little bit of, 'Are you gonna make fun of this athlete?' Probably not going to make fun of somebody who's dedicated their life to something. I'm not gonna go up there and say, 'You stink.' Is there anybody you haven't met that you want to? Tom Brady would be cool to meet. I just recently met Charles Barkley. That was awesome. He was always one I wanted to meet. What sticks with you most about Notre Dame's season having grown up on Irish football in Pennsylvania? The season was crazy. I brought my dad and my friends, and I was with Johnny Manziel watching the game in Texas A&M. After the game, they were like, 'Coach Freeman wants you to go to the locker room.' So I was in the locker room after the win, and it was amazing. And then Week 2, Northern Illinois happens, and I thought it was a program ended. I was like, this is going to be five more years of rebuilding. The whole year was incredible. But by the time the playoffs came around, we were filming Season 2 of 'Tires.' So we were just watching the games there, which is really fun. We had all our friends over to watch the Georgia game. The Georgia game, how nice was that? That first series on defense, oh my God, this is different, I'm used to them getting killed in this game, and they're faster. Then Penn State, that was the biggest win for me because I grew up in central Pennsylvania, where everyone's either Notre Dame or Penn State. And they never really ever get to play, and all my friends are Penn State fans, so that was particularly nice. Especially the first half, they were texting me, because a bunch of them were in Miami, and they were talking a lot of s—. Perfect. Perfect ending. What were the moments during the Eagles' season that stuck with you the most? I was at the game when Saquon hurdled that guy. I saw it live, and that's the most incredible play I've ever seen. I've watched football my whole life. I've never seen someone do that. That's insane. He had so many really incredible moments. The Super Bowl was wonderful. They just killed the Chiefs. At the beginning of the game, I remember there being a terrible pass interference call. And I was like, 'Oh, this is going to happen again.' And then they took the refs out of the game. Not much they could do. When was sports, like, your thing? I know you played high school football, but that's different than fandom being so tied to your identity. I guess that's just how I was raised. That's how my dad was. That's how all my friends are because all my friends play football. I was just raised that way. My dad watched sports every day. And what else is there to do? I don't get it. We're watching sports.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Squid Game' Star Unpacks Her Character's Sacrifice: 'I Could Not Stop Crying'
[This story contains MAJOR spoilers from the season three finale, 'Humans are …'] Squid Game is a story about sacrifice in order to achieve a better future. In the end, the third and final season of Netflix's global mega-hit killed its protagonist so creator Hwang Dong-hyuk could deliver that message. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'The Old Guard 2' Review: Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne Bring All the Right Moves, but Netflix Sequel Doesn't Have the Same Kick Streaming Ratings: 'Squid Game' Final Season Sets Three-Day Record on Netflix Charts 'Tires' Renewed for Season 3 at Netflix The finale, titled 'Humans are…', saw reluctant hero Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) sacrificing himself so that the baby of two deceased players in the deadly South Korean Games could survive. The baby's mother, Kim Jun-hee, aka Player 222 (Jo Yu-ri), made the first ultimate sacrifice when, with a broken foot and unable to compete, she threw herself off a sky-high ledge and charged the then-alive Gi-hun to take care of her newborn baby, who was birthed during the prior game, in order to give her child the best shot at survival. The irony is that the final game came down to Gi-hun and the baby's father, Lee Myung-gi, aka Player 333 (Yim Swian), as they battled each other on another sky-high ledge. Gi-hun ended up victorious, but because of the final game's twisted rules and the baby now counting as a player, only Gi-hun or the baby could be left alive. When Gi-hun jumps to his death, the baby is then crowned the champion. The ultimate ending (complete with an A-list cameo from Cate Blanchett) is a bleak one, but there is hope for Jun-hee's legacy. In one of the show's final scenes, antagonist The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) leaves the newborn — along with the 45.6 billion won cash prize, about $31.5 million — with his good guy police detective brother, Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon). Before the third and final season of Squid Game released to a new viewership record for Netflix, Jo Yu-ri was most likely recognized for her K-pop origins, first as a member of group Iz*One and then as a solo artist. Below, she spoke with The Hollywood Reporter via a translator about landing the standout role, her emotional reaction when learning about Jun-hee's fate and her hopes for the ending, before she had seen the final episode. *** Coming from the K-pop world and with your musical background, how did this role come to you? I received an audition request. The audition process was pretty lengthy, so it was three, four months of preparing for Jun-hee and then I got the role. I read that your audition was a process. What attracted you to Jun-hee and what made you want to fight for this role? I actually did not know what kind of role it would be, specifically. I really had no prior information on the character. What I was able to glean from the audition process was really only what director [Hwang] told me — her name and that she was pregnant. That was pretty much all I had during the process. But after I got the role, he gave me the script and that was when I was able to fill in the blanks. For her to enter the Games so far into her pregnancy, we assume she was at a point of desperation. But as we get to know her — and then see her ultimate sacrifice — we learn she is incredibly strong-willed. What backstory did you create to help you understand her better? As we know from watching the show, there's not a lot revealed about Jun-hee's backstory. I did have to work a little bit on my own to fill in those blanks. The director [Hwang] once mentioned to me that she could have tried to follow in Myungi's footsteps and tried to be a YouTuber, but I felt her personality wasn't quite right to be a successful YouTuber. In my mind, I think she made a few attempts but failed, then found out she was pregnant and was working odd jobs. That then led her to meet the man who recruits her. I understand that you wore a prosthetic belly and learned how to walk and act pregnant while you were filming. The labor scene was very intense to watch. Was the baby entirely CGI and what was it like to film that scene, along with your two co-stars Kang Ae-sim (Player 149) and Park Sung-hoon (Player 120), who also ultimately don't make it out of the Games alive? For the birth scene, I was really helped by my co-star Ae-sim. I took her advice a lot, and she really helped out. So filming that scene was difficult, but I definitely managed. With the baby, we actually had a silicone dummy doll version of a baby. We had two versions: one that was moving and one that was a robotic baby, and I remember alternating between those dolls to film that scene. But even if it was a doll, it just felt so real to me. I remember tearing up, just holding that baby in my arms. Jun-hee's death is so heartbreaking. The odds were against her, but as a viewer, we don't want to accept that she won't make it out. How did you react when you read her fate, and that she sacrifices herself and hands her child over to Gi-hun to give her child the best shot of survival? Was that why you had teased this season as being 'brutal and cruel'? Just the concept of having a pregnant woman in the Games made me think, 'How much more cruel is this [seasons two and three] going to be?' The scene where she decides to give Gi-hun the baby was definitely a super emotionally intense scene. I really tried my best to portray that sense of emotion and how torn she was. I was also very curious to see how the baby would factor into the Games, because at the time, I could not read the scripts that followed Jun-hee's death. So I was very curious. What was it like filming her final scene, in particular her final conversations with both Gi-hun and Myungi? Also, how immersive was that Jump Rope game set as you were filming her goodbye and going through the process of her making the decision to sacrifice herself? It was really emotionally difficult, especially my last conversation with Gi-hun. I really felt my emotions just spilling over and exploding. But the director [Hwang] asked me to pull it back a little bit, actually, and to keep it a bit more restrained. I remember that was even harder to do. My scene with Myungi is one I absolutely love because it was my audition scene. Jun-hee's words, especially in that scene, are so heartbreaking, and I found myself relating to when she is asking Myungi, 'With my foot like this, are you going to, what, carry me across?' Even after the cameras stopped rolling, I just could not stop crying. The finale boiled down to the father of the baby (Player 333), Gi-hun (Player 456) and Jun-hee's baby as the remaining players in the Sky Squid Game. Were you surprised when you found out the evil twist that the baby would actually become a player in the game, and take on Jun-hee's Player 222 number? What were your hopes going into the finale? I remember when I found out the baby was going to be a participant. I remember feeling despair and not even wanting that to happen. I remember almost tearing up. I have only seen up to episode five [the penultimate episode] of season three. The most positive outcome that I was trying to think of is that Detective Jun-ho finally figures out where the island is, and the Games stop. And then there are three winners left. That was what I was hoping for. [Writer's note: Though there were not three winners in the end, Jun-hee's baby was the ultimate winner and survived the Games and the series, giving the baby the best possible outcome.] *** The final season of Squid Game is now streaming on Netflix. Read THR's take on the finale cameo and how it could set up a spinoff, and our two-part interview with creator Hwang Dong-hyuk on making the final season and why he ended the series how he did. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
